The Wonders of the Wild ©

On Friday, the 18th of May, I was out early to check on the baby hawk, aka "Red E".  It was a great morning--it was even quite cool out.  The mama hawk flew away before she knew I was coming so I was not screamed at or did I hear her "Keeeer" in the distance!  Reddi was giving a bit of a show and looking like he/she could be ready any day to just take off, fly the coop and get on with its busy life, which we all know will be successful!


No more laughing at him/her; after all, the baby hawk has grown big and strong and he/she is at the top of the food chain!  Red E is still a little too downy to think that he/she is really ready to leave the nest but it won't be long.  Pretty soon the platform located near South Mountainside and Carefree Highway will be vacant and that part of the desert will be quiet and back to normal.  The little birds will be able to fly more freely without worrying about becoming Red E's breakfast, lunch or dinner!  It leaves me wondering--what will occupy the nest next year?  Will the hawk return or will an owl take over the ready-made nest for her owlets?

That was just the beginning of my morning!

I started my walk/hike heading south, just listening to the sounds of the early morning desert.  The small birds were chirping and tweeting saying, "good morning," the cardinal was calling "preee-ty preee-ty", the mourning doves were cooing  and the thrashers were singing their song.  The cry of the lonely sentinel from a far-off tree was warning the quails of danger, and maybe in the distance I heard the howling of a coyote!


As I passed the very small nest with five tiny blue eggs that I had discovered a few weeks ago, I noticed that two of the babies had emerged from their shells.

At the end of my walk/hike I had one more encounter.  It was getting warm and I was ready to get home but as I was walking near the street I noticed movement by the curb--what I saw was very small.  First I thought it was a mouse, maybe a kangaroo mouse--too small for a desert pack rat.




But it was not a mouse at all, but rather a new born desert bunny!  It was so tiny and I didn't even know if it was able to see.  It  knew that I was there because it ran from me and then ran toward me--I saw that it wanted up on the curb but couldn't get up.  It ran and tried to jump but it just hit the curb over and over--so I tried to help but it didn't want help from me.



Finally, I grabbed it (it squeaked a little--I have never heard a bunny voice before) and set it up and over the curb, but seconds later it was back in the street.

We did it all over again--the second time I was able to get the baby bunny into the desert on the other side of the road.

I'm sure mama bunny was somewhere close by, trying not to scream.

Just another morning in the beautiful desert!

(Copyright 2012)